


dark wings, bright smiles

by Noa



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cute, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Odin being Odin, Romance, This ship is consuming me, send help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 13:10:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6471175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noa/pseuds/Noa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Odin had worked hard to become a Sorcerer, and the least Niles could do was show some genuine admiration, untainted by perversion.</p><p>(There was plenty of time for perversion later.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	dark wings, bright smiles

Odin was in a good mood. An extraordinary good mood, which he had no qualms showing off, much to the amusement of his comrades. Stepping light as ever, he twirled and flourished across the training grounds, exclaiming the most legendary-sounding battle cries as they popped into his head, while magic from his Grimoire flew around him like butterflies around flowers. Odin wasn’t typically one for shame, but he did at times feel awkward when observed. Today however, he was shining, carefree and proud.

Niles loved seeing him like this.

Of course, Niles also enjoyed Odin’s shame. His stumbling, his flusters...Niles even enjoyed the pained look on Odin’s face whenever someone inadvertently burst the bubble in which Odin happily floated through life. Niles enjoyed just about all of Odin’s especially wide range of expressions, and enjoyed evoking them even more.

Yet Odin’s genuine, unabashed happiness is what Niles enjoyed most. Something about it made him smile –a real smile, though many  wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. It made him hopeful. Niles doubted Odin knew he’d been gradually picking up and returning pieces of his broken faith in humanity, but he kept the shards regardless, and pieced them together during the many hours he spent alone under the moon.

Odin’s eyes lit up when he spotted Niles looking on from the sidelines. He batted at the sparks still surrounding his Grimoire, before rushing at his companion in a manner that looked an awful lot like skipping. Niles pushed himself away from the tree he’d been leaning against, and smiled as his lover approached.

To think Odin actually believed no one knew about them. He didn’t carry his heart on his sleeve- He kept it on his tongue, and everyone could hear it (whether they wanted to or not).

“Niles!” Odin beamed, “You’ve returned!”

Niles nodded. He’d been away on some...errands. Errands that involved making sure certain people wouldn’t keep doing certain things that inconvenienced the Kingdom of Nohr. Not that Niles particularly cared for Nohr, but he cared for his lord. So did Odin, which is why he stayed behind to serve Leo solo while Niles was away.

It had only been three days, but Odin acted like he hadn’t seen him in ages. Niles found it endearing, to see Odin so openly pleased with his return. Kind of comforting too, though he’d never say that out loud. Sneaking and slipping in and out of people’s lives as often and easily as Niles had done in the past, it was nice to know someone would miss him. Someone would welcome him back.

Niles’s return wasn’t the sole reason behind Odin’s excitement, though. Even without Odin saying a thing, Niles could see he had something to share.

“How fared your mission?” Odin asked, and he tried so hard to show interest, the sweetheart, despite his attentions being elsewhere. Niles decided to spare him.

“Let’s talk about that later,” he offered, before nodding down at Odin’s clothes- Niles recognized them as Sorcerer’s robes, which wasn’t what Odin donned before Niles’s departure. “How about you tell me about this, first?”

Odin smiled impossibly brighter, and took a small step back to show off his new getup in all its glory.

Niles hummed as he took in the mix of fabrics and colors. Rather than Odin’s usual yellow, he now wore an array of richer hues, golden, scarlet and black, reinforced with engraved steel here and there. Two large, pitch feathered wings draped his shoulders like a cape. The tall collar of this cape was feathered too, and it framed Odin’s face beautifully, creating a powerful contrast to the light shade of his hair.

Odin mumbled about having been granted the honor of activating a Master Seal, while Niles shamelessly looked him over, taking his time to enjoy all the little details such a refined ensemble had to offer (as well as the skin it still left deliciously bare). But it wasn’t just the clothes that made for subtle differences in Odin’s appearance- it was the way he carried himself, too. Steadier on his feet, chin raised just a bit higher, a new fire in his eyes that Niles couldn’t wait to explore.

Odin shuffled under Niles’s inspecting stare, bottom lip between his teeth as he waited for a reaction. Niles kept him in suspense just a few moments longer- He hadn’t been able to tease Odin for a full three days, and he intended to compensate.

“Ravishing,” he then said, purposely lowering his voice, and Odin’s grin turned into something more contained, something shy. When Niles licked his lips, Odin looked away. Ah, there was that blush. Ravishing, indeed.

“I am able to tap into the darkest of arcane powers now,” Odin said, a bit of that earlier pride glowing behind his flustered expression. “I feel as if I have...” Odin briefly halted his words when Niles took a small step towards him, closing the distance between their bodies. “...As if I have an infinite grasp of the occult,” Odin finished quietly. He looked down at his hands when he felt Niles’s fingers curl around them.

“I like it,” Niles said. He bit back a comment on how he’d like to get Odin out of those shiny new robes too, and get an infinite grasp of something else, but... Much as he enjoyed tormenting Odin in his own way, Niles could tell this was important to him. Besides, he knew what it meant to use a Master Seal. Odin had worked hard to become a Sorcerer, and the least Niles could do was show some genuine admiration, untainted by perversion.

(There was plenty of time for perversion later.)

“Yeah?” Odin looked down at himself. Niles gave his hands a little squeeze, and nodded. As much confidence as Odin often pretended to have, Niles recognized the signs of wanting reassurance.

“Yeah,” he said. “And those wings,” Niles released one of Odin’s hands to stroke his fingertips down the black feathers of Odin’s cape, which flowed gently at his side to the soft breeze surrounding them. They felt even softer than they looked.  “You’re like an angel.”

Odin seemed to think about that for a moment.

“...A _dark_ angel,” he then decided. Niles blinked.

He had no idea what he’d done to deserve someone like Odin.

“Sure,” Niles said. He took Odin’s lonely hand back in his own. “A dark angel.”

Odin smiled, adorably pleased with himself, and Niles knew at that moment that if somehow, somewhere, angels truly existed-- Odin was one of them.

And all Niles could do was hope they’d let him stay.

_-fin_

 

**Author's Note:**

> Help, Niles/Odin took a hold of me and it's not letting go.


End file.
